HTML5 client

This article is retained to provide information on past elements of RuneScape.

The HTML5 client was a revision of the current Game Client to be integrated in upcoming updates for RuneScape 3. The implementation of HTML5 was promised to make the game run faster and with better graphics,[1] and would also allow for RuneScape to be playable on mobile devices and tablets.[2]

Contents

History

Mod MMG confirmed in a news post on 29 August2012 that HTML5 support was coming to the game.

“

We have some tremendous content - as well as technical innovations - lined up over the course of the next few months that we believe you will love. We already have RuneScape running in a new and improved client architecture built on HTML5 [...] and now I’m happy to report that we also have a dedicated Future Tech team working on bringing the game to your favourite tablets, platforms and even smart TVs in due course.

Beta

Differences between Java only and Java with HTML5

On 17 April2013 the Beta of RuneScape 3 was opened up for a select group of players. It initially had a non-disclosure agreement attached to it, but that was lifted very soon afterwards. Improved graphics such as further render distance could already be observed in this beta.

Updates

In a March 2014 Q&A, Mod Philip commented on future updates to the HTML5 client:

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Question: Hello, I would love to know when HTML5 will be officially released ? Also, you mentioned a while ago that you were working on a stand alone client for the game, is it still planned?

Answer: HTML5 is available to play now - we are unlikely to make any significant changes to it in the future, as the underlying technology is not really fast enough for our player base to have a good experience in it. It is still supported though, and is being used as a basis for some work on other client technology which should turn out a lot better (but we are not sure when it will be ready yet).

We had some very good reasons for wanting to write a new client, Java has become increasingly harder to run in a browser over the years, plus it’s written in a way that makes it difficult for us to squeeze out any more performance from it, or to add new features.

In any case, the HTML5 client was supposed to solve these problems and generally make it easier for you to play RuneScape. Unfortunately the client wasn’t fast enough, even on high-end computers. The performance problems we originally thought were just something we needed to work on, were rather more intractable than we had anticipated, for quite complicated technical reasons. So, we went back to the drawing board and decided that the only way we could sort things out properly was to write the client again.

Over the past year we have been quietly working to bring you something pretty awesome. Our next new client builds on the re-architecting we did for the HTML5 project to deliver what HTML5 could not – the performance you expect out of your computer when playing RuneScape, with all of the added benefits we had intended to give you before, and more.